Dream Soldier
by NeroVII
Summary: An epidemic has broken out across the entire planet. The only way to save the human race and find a cure is to put their consciences into a super computer and preserve their bodies. In this new world of dreams, Cosmos, it is discovered that there are worst things that reside in the mind than just "Nightmares."
1. Chapter 1: The Boy from the Outside

Chapter 1: The Boy from the Outside

"…"

"….."

"….."

"_Where am I… is this a dream….? Am I still asleep? I have to be…_"

"Hey."

"_Whose voice is that…? It doesn't sound familiar. But why is she yelling so loudly…?_"

"Hey, wake up already! Can you hear me?" She reached out and placed her hands on my shoulders. I could feel the warmth of her hands through my thin jacket, but it was too real- even for just a dream.

I slowly opened my dreary eyes to a building full of people and littered with shops- a mall maybe…? I yawned and stretched a bit, then looked her in the eyes and wiped away the tears forming at the ends of my eyes. I nudged off her hands and she gave me a look of annoyance.

"You're one of the newcomers, right?" She pointed at the set of doors behind me. I turned to peer out of it and saw a train pulling off. "That there is where you came from, so-" She put her hands on her hips and leaned closer to me in an intimidating way," What's your name? My name is Sarah. You?"

I thought about the question for a second, but couldn't find an answer. "…"

"Hello, can't you hear me?" She leaned in closer; I could smell her shampoo and feel her gaze, forcing me away. "H-hey, where are you goin'?" I stumbled into the set of doors. "Tell me your name! C'mon, do you know your name?"

I couldn't come up with a name so I looked away in shame. "I don't… have one…" I looked up at her to see what her reaction was. She had a relieved expression on her face, or, maybe a dumbfounded one, hard to tell. "Where are we?"

Sarah took a few steps back and turned to the shops and the people wondering about. She spoke in an understanding tone, but doesn't seem to fully relate, "We're in Cosmos, a dream reality for the existence of mankind…" A tear drop formed under her eye, but she quickly wiped it away.

"Cosmos? Existence of… Mankind? What are you talking about?"

Sarah sighed and turned to me with a slight smile. I could probably tell that she wasn't well informed, but was, nevertheless, as shakin' up as well as I am. "I don't know all the details- sorry."

"_At least you knew that much, I don't know anything… Let alone, I can't remember my own name…"_ I walked beside her and looked around a bit. "Well, let's look around until we find some answers." I glanced over at her, and she immediately grabbed my hand and ran for the nearest shop. "I meant to a newsstand or something!"

She stopped and jerked my hand to the counter. "Look at the sign! Did you think I wanted to go shopping or something?"

"_Yes_." I looked at the sign. It read "PDI and Registration Center." The clerk stepped from around the corner and leaned on the counter. It was a medium aged guy, it was a little awkward, but I could tell he had an interest in Sarah. "So, what is this place for? What's a PDI, and why do we-"

He held up his hand, palm out, saying, "Can it." I could tell right away, this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. "Look, I'm a busy guy –lots to do, not a lick of time to do it. If you're a newcomer then you best shut it and listen up, kid."

"_Kid- who does he think he is? If only this wasn't a mall, I'd show you who's a kid- with a black eye…_" I folded my arms and upheld a look as though his viperous didn't affect me. I caught a glimpse of Sarah looking at me out the corner of her eye, but she quickly turned to her attention to the clerk.

"So, what exactly do you do…. Mister-"

"Call me Nick, here at the registration center we, er, I put you into this thing," he pushed the air itself and a screen appeared out from nowhere. He scrolled through the screen and poked at something. A noise erupted in my ears and Sarah turned to me and checked if I was okay. "Oops, didn't mean to do that…" He pushed the button again and the noise went away. I was getting annoyed by his ignorance but didn't want to ruin Sarah's chance at getting the information we needed. "So, this here is the PDI, Personal Data Interspace. It will be your greatest asset in this world. You see, it does everything from holding your money and items to even communicating with nit-wits like him."

"Oh-" Sarah looked as though she was interest. Her expression looked much like the one she gave me when we first met. "So, you mean… it's like in the games…? They made this place to be a dream reality, but it's nothing more than a big game to them…" She shook her head and gave a final word to me before she continued. "We'll have to ask elsewhere to figure out the whole deal of this place, but for now we should finish registration." I nodded in agreement. If anything, this PDI might tell all we need to know. "Tell me, how do we register?"

He swiped the screen away and leaned forward, "this is how." Nick picked up a small item, a baton like object and told us to hold out our dominant arm, uncovered by clothing or accessories. I pulled back my sleeve on my left arm and Sarah took off her bracelet on her right arm. "Now, this might make you feel a little dizzy, but it's only temporary."

His smile was enough to drive me away, but if this is all it took, why not. "Hurry up, old man." I held out my arm and he slapped it with the baton. I jerked back and a red mark was left from the impact. Sarah held out her arm and he gently tapped her skin, while looking her genuinely in the eyes. "How come you hit me so hard? No wonder no one likes your shop, old man." I walked out from the registration shop and waited for Sarah, whom decided that a few extra details would be necessary before we go on our search. As she walked outside the door, I stopped her with a little small talk, "So, how's your boyfriend?"

She flushed and nearly slapped me, but stopped midway and jabbed my forehead with enough force to throw me off balance. "You know it wasn't like that, besides, I wanted to know what kinda limits we're set to in this world."

"Limits? Don't you sound smart…" that was my worst choice of words that whole day…

She leaned in close again, with that look of ignorance and little to no tolerance for what I said, "OOOOH! So, you think just because I'm a blonde I have to some ditz about everything and showing off everything I got, huh!" She continued her onslaught of rage all the way 'til she backed me up to the wall… again… "HMPH!"

"H-hey, I didn't mean it like that! I-I-" I choked up to the point that I couldn't even say a word. Luckily she let up her wrath and slowly stomped away to the escalator, leading up stairs. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?" I started my sprint to catch up to her but was suddenly stopped by a strange sensation erupting in my head. I couldn't bear the pain and fell to one knee. I could hear a voice, one that was unknown to anyone around me. (Beware of the shadows. Stray from the light, and the darkness will consume you.). "_What are you, talking about? Who are you! ARGH!" _Once I recovered from the sudden pain I was magically relieved of, I looked ahead to see if Sarah was waiting for me, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Great, now I've done it. She won't even listen to me since I- argh…" I stood up and initiated my pursuit for my only companion. I placed my hand on the rail and felt an immediate rapid shaking in the mechanisms under the rail- no the entire ground began to shake. With little time to react I ran up the escalator, stumbling but only made it halfway. The top of the escalator was ripped apart by a flood of dark fluid that I've never seen before. Everyone around me had the same I idea and began to run in an assortment of directions. The escalator whipped back and threw me downward, straight into the ground below.

I turned to see the situation as a whole, but everything was getting dark and I could barely move… I thought I was going to die… but then I could hear footsteps running to me. My body lifted up and I could feel my injuries being healed almost instantly. Someone was carrying me to a nearby shop that read "Steve's Meds." Whoever was helping me must have expected safety in a small compact…

"Hey, can you move?" The owner of the voice was a young male, maybe a year or two younger than me. "Listen, I'm as scared as you, so I know you can relate. I don't want to die- so… um… let's work together, please."

"Do I have much of a choice, partner?" I gained my strength and stood up. I leaned against the counter and a menu popped up before me, asking if I wished to buy medicine for my travels. "This must be the PDI, how do I close it?"

The young boy walked up beside me and swiped it away like the clerk did before. "The PDI responds to you and the environment, so it's, um, more comfortable and convenient for the user." He walked to the door and peered out of it; at that moment he jerked back his head and pulled me behind him. "T-there's something out there!"

"Huh? You mean, like, a monster?"

He shook his head in denial, "I can't tell that much, the lights are dimming out. I can barely see anything past the next shop…" He pulled up his PDI menu and selected, from what I could see, a pole. I couldn't believe it but a pole materialized in his hands. He handed it to me saying, "You're much stronger than I am. It would be best if you use it." He peered out the door again and this time signaled that we should move.

"You're a brave little guy, what's your name?"

He turned back at me and then back at the hall. His voice cracked a little but regained itself, "I- my name is Aaron. What's your name?"

"Sorry, but I can't remember much about myself."

"Well, can I call you anything?" Aaron leaned back to try and balance himself for a full auto sprint to freedom. "Well… I know this might be weird but, when I looked at on the ground before…. I saw a set of letters gathers around your head area. It looked like noir- Can I call you that? It sounds cool to me."

I nodded, but drew in fear as I saw a horrifying image of a rotten figure approaching us. I quickly yanked Aaron away from the door in enough time to avoid the monsters reach. "Dude, is THAT the thing you saw? It's like a thing from a nightmare or a horror movie!"

Aaron shushed me so the monster wouldn't detect us with our guard down. It paced to the door; its shadow loomed down the dimly lit floor of the medical shop. Aaron nudged me and pointed at the pole he gave me. I put two and two together and slowly stood up.

Aaron slid out the way, enough for me to move through and knock out the monster without being caught. As I readied my weapon, I noticed something jabbing me in the side. I leaned forward to try and get a look at it, but it held onto my jacket. Aaron reached out to catch it but the object rolled out of his hands and shattered on the ground. We froze in sheer terror of the events that were about to unfold. I grabbed my companion and rushed at the monster in front of us, shoving it aside. We ran down the mall to a store that led to the outside, but was as dark as night. In the darkness I could figures, tormented by their own sins, standing like monuments to others who stray into the abyss. The light shone in front of us, but it felt like we were being pulled back with every step.

"Noir, go on without me! I don't have much to live for anyway… Go!" Aaron grabbed my hand and pried it off his wrist. "This place won't allow both of us to escape… we must leave someone behind…" I could tell he was desperate, but couldn't take the effect of leaving the first person he befriended to die in this hell hole.

"Fine, I know how we can settle this," I placed my hand on his shoulder and stared at his face. He was definitely scared, I couldn't think of any way to calm him down so I tossed him toward the light. "I'll find you on the other side. I have a friend who might still be in there. I can't just leave her."

Aaron looked back at me, and then at the door. "I- I can't leave you, Noir…" He strode back to me and held out his hand for a bro-fist. "We're friends, aren't we? We'll save her together!"


	2. Chapter 2: Into the Darkness

Chapter 2: Into the Darkness

Name: Noir

Location: Eastern Gate

Aaron and I ran out of the dark filled store and back into the mall. The monsters in there were increasing in numbers and we would be quickly outnumbered in no time. "Noir, look up there!" I looked at Aaron, who was pointing frantically at something on the top floor, the third floor. "I saw something drop from up there, it should land at any second. I looked like a girl being chased… we should go check it out." I nodded in agreement and started for the escalator, but remembered that the weird fluid took it out earlier.

"Hey, we can't get all the way up there like this. We have to find an elevator or something before we lose our chance to get to her!"

Aaron nodded and he pointed to his wrist saying, "Look at this." He clicked the side of his index finger on his middle finger and a strange ping noise ringed in my head. "This is sonar, like in the old military games and movies." Aaron lifted his head and looked around. I looked around as well, but nothing appeared before me. "Try it and see what I see."

I flicked my fingers and a pulse went out from my position to those all around me. When I looked around this time I could see bright lights like auras around the monsters. I did it again and looked up to the top floor and saw two auras of the same color, but different from the monsters, in comparison, red to blue. "There! She's with someone else, top floor beside that store there."

Overwhelmed by joy that I now stand a chance in getting to her I rushed to the steps across the mall, Aaron slowly behind. I could hear him running heavily behind me, tired. "Take this set of stairs, here. It's faster."

I paused and turned to the steps, facing the open window ceiling with the image of a bloodcurdling red moon engulfing the sky. Aaron walked past me and up the steps. I'm not sure if he saw it or not, but it seems his attention was set on the goal. "Aaron, is this moon normal?"

He stopped at the top of the steps and scanned the area for enemies. His eyes were constantly moving for the sight of an enemy in which we can hide and avoid confrontation. "Well," he started, "I've only been here for an hour, it shouldn't be night in only a matter of seconds." His logic is clear and sensible but didn't fit the current situation. "C'mon, the enemy is starting to gather in that area. Now is our chance to get around safely."

"Right," I followed behind him along the second floor to a winding stairwell that was damaged and covered in the black liquid from before. "What is that stuff, is this what caused those things down there to come out?"

"Maybe, don't touch it," Aaron hopped over the ooze to the next step and continued upward. "I don't get it, why would this happen at a Gate."

"Gate?" I hopped over the ooze after Aaron and landed on the step, creaking as I straightened my form. "This mall is a Gate?"

"Yea, um, Gates are like the entrance ways for people to come into this world in one peace." A crumbling noise, faint but sharp, signaled for us to end our little chat short. I took another step, my foot went through the ground and I nearly went through but I managed to grab hold of a solid piece of what remained. The rest however dropped to the bottom floor and alerted all the monsters of where we were. I glanced down and saw the monsters gathering below. "Noir, hang on!" I looked over at Aaron and saw a dark figure walk up behind him. " I'm coming, j-just hang on!"

"No, there's someone behind you!"

The figure yanked Aaron back into the darkness in a chokehold. I could hear Aaron struggling as I tried to pull myself up, but when I got a hold of good ground, they were gone. I called out Aaron's name, but nothing answered. "Dammit, Aaron answer me!"

I ran up the remaining steps and sent out a pulse of my sonar, nothing could be seen around me. I tried again and again, but to no prevail. "_Why isn't it working? It's sending out a pulse but not even Aaron or whatever took 'em are here…_" My senses kicked in and I suddenly fell back, stumbling into the railing. The monsters from below were climbing up the walls like spiders, agile and fierce. I pulled out my pole from the PDI and got back up from the ground. They were surrounding me quickly, so I turned around and sprint toward the opposite side of the mall. The floor was loose and continued to crumble. I could barely walk straight and the madness was driving me insane. My two first encounter with people in this world lead to their deaths.

A piece of tile stuck up out the ground, out of my view, causing me to trip. I fell hard, scraping my leg. The monsters drew closer and closer. I could tell the same fate that befell Sarah and Aaron was going to happen to me, very soon. My pole had slipped out of my hand when I fell, too far from my reach. I grabbed at the air, each a missed attempt to obtain my pole. The monsters were only a few feet away. The growling of the monsters sent chills up my spine, but knowing that I'd die having done nothing to protect my friends makes my existence feel meaningless.

I reached out one last time at my pole; my fingers grazed the edge of the metal, only pushing it further from my grasp. The monsters seized my legs and jerked me toward them, my fingers rubbed and I could see a large red aura ahead of me. It was moving very rapidly at me. At a moments notice I could feel its footsteps pounding the ground, shaking the entire floor. I kicked the monsters holding my legs and rolled to the rail for support. The brute of the red aura slammed into the horde of monsters behind me. The rail rattles upon impact, sending me into a mild disillusionment, causing me to fall to the ground. The darkness began to affect my mind. I could barely see and my body was weak. I could feel that the brute had stopped and was holding still to the many monster underlings, which he viciously ripped apart.

My fingers rubbed again and I could see a faint aura. It approached me and knelt down in front of me. I could hear a voice, a male voice. It said, "looks like I got the spoils of this victory, kid. Catcha later, if you can last through the darkness of coarse." He stood up and let out a sigh. I managed to turn my head, but an immense pain shot up my neck and down my spine. "Too bad though, guess you weren't all pure of heart after all. You're just like me, kid. A no good crook, a criminal, a vile villain." He paced away to a darkened store with a flashing light flicking in the back. He stopped at the door and turned to me. "Come find me when you wanna join the winning side."

He stepped into the store and stood for moment. The light flickered and he disappeared. My vision was severely damaged and I could barely move. The brute walked up to me, covered in darkness. It stared into my eyes, snorted and reached its hand over my head, but stopped. I could hear yelling, not of fear, but of anger, countless voices approaching me from all directions. I heard a swift kick and the brute was sent flying into the store doors, crashing through them. "Take the boy and the girl to the infirmary for examination." The voice drew closer, "what is this thing? A boy?"

I could feel warmth touching my skin, like a hand. The owner, I could not see, had soft gentle hands. "I might be able to reverse this, but it's a risk that we don't need to take."

The footsteps drew closer and stopped in front of my face, kneeing in front of me. It was a young man, about elder 20s, who placed his blade in front of my eyes. "Well, if he wants to live, he'd best hope that the darkness doesn't cling to his heart. Or else I'd happily end him… slowly."

Disclaimer: (Sorry I forgot it for the first chapter but here it is now) All rights are reserved to their rightful owners. I do not own characters (intentionally or unintentionally) from the anime or manga of the two anime I based this off of. This is meant to be an original story and not draw toward the story of either anime, so sorry if it was a letdown for those who sought a cross-over of character, I only crossed the concepts.


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Deep

Chapter 3: Into the Deep

Name: Norr  
Location: Aniplex City

I woke up, dazed and confused. My limps were numb and heavy. Aaron was asleep in a chair across the room, and Sarah was nowhere to be found. I could hear a constant beeping breaking the silence of the darkness.

My hand twitched and my legs shifted. I could slowly feel my body regaining its strength. I sat up and looked around the void room. The only light being emitted came from either the moon or the hallway light seeping through the cracks of the door. "Where am I... And why do I feel so... tired..." The beeping stopped and a strange hissing noise kicked in for a moment only to give way back to the beeping. I swiped the air to open my menu, my clothes and the pole I had were still there. After equipping them, I slid out of bed to stretch my legs, "Aaron, you up?"

He stretched and let out a brief sigh, "yeah, must have dosed off for a bit. Glad to see you're okay."

"Yeah, well, I feel like crap. What happened back in the mall? Is Sarah... ya know..."

"Yeah, she's fine. The military unit came in and saved us before that guy tried to kidnap us." He stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder. The moonlight faded to nothing as a large cloud eclipsed the sky, "let's take it slow, your body hasn't fully recovered just yet. Sarah's out cold in her bunk just down the way, and I'm headed by there to get some supplies for you."

I pulled out my pole and used it as a crutch for the time-being. We walked out of the dark filled room and into the array of bright lights blinding the hallway. I shielded my face from the light and followed behind Aaron. "So, what's going on, why am I here?"

Aaron slowed down a bit to let me catch up, and had an expression as if he were looking for an answer himself. "To be honest, I'm not completely sure myself." We reached the end of the hallway and a few docters came rushing by as if the building were on fire. I overheard one of them saying something about a New-Type Nightmare in a desert or something. "As you can see, things are pretty crazy around here. And it's not letting up any time soon." Aaron signaled me to follow him and we continued down the hall to the bunks. "Ever since we got here, they've been talking about the spontaneous Nightmare attacks occurring everywhere."

Nightmares? Does he mean those things that tried to kill us? "So, why are we here? I feel fine, we can leave right?" I limped behind Aaron as he held open the door to the bunk section of the enormous facility. "Let's get Sarah and leave this place. There's no reason to stay once we get the supplies, right?"

"Wrong," a strange voice that sounded familiar tore through the tense atmosphere almost startling me. "You're under military watch until further notice." A man, about my age grabbed my jacket and shoved me against the wall. "Look here, punk, I don't take any crap when it comes to my job; so you can act up or slip up once, and you'd better expect a swift death."

The boy shoved me away and stormed off out into the hallway. "What's his problem, I just woke up and already getting hassled." Aaron chuckled a little and waved me over. "So, where's Sarah?"

Aaron pointed under the bunk at a small indention in the floor. He reached over it and a small light whipped out and attached to the adnormal tile. "This is one of the new abiliities we gained in this world, called Psionics." The light condenced into a straight line and pulled the tile off the ground, revealing a hidden passageway underground. "Sarah's Brennan sneaking out at night to the outskirts of town. She's kept this to herself for a while now but I don't think she's taking your condition very well."

I peered down the ominous hole and started to climb down it. I knew I could change things and figure out how to escape this mental prison we now call home. "Well Aaron, the madam awaits!" After a few minutes we arrived at a fork in the path. One way held a faint light, while the other was a rapture of darkness. Assuming the obvious notion, we went to the lighted path. Here we found a cavern filled with spring water and illuminated by the moon's light. A figure was seen down by the water on a ledge. Aaron gazed behind me and ended nearly zoning out for a moment. "So how do we get down there?"

Aaron pulled out the weird light thing and shot it across the cave, latching onto a stalactite. "We'll swing across and land in the water below." As simple as it sounds, I went along with it. He showed me how to summon the Grapple; it was one of the basic skills used to get around from place to place. "All you need to do is guide it to where you want it to land. Once you get the hang of it, its pretty simple and fun." At saying that, he hopped of the ledge we were perched on and swung to a nearby catwalk-like pillar that had fallen over. I did the same and shot out my grapple. As I swung, I noticed the moon was in its harvest color and surrounded by clouds. This was a huge difference from before when it was a blood moon. I landed on a pillar lower than Aaron and staggered to gain my balance. "Nice, you're better than I thought you'd be, Norr." He swung again straight to the figure in the moonlight, landing right next to it. "Now you try, it's a bit of a stretch but you'll make it."

I got a running start, jumped and grappled across to where Aaron stood, but my line gave way to early and snapped midway. I flew across the water a few feet and splashed in the ice-cold water. I swam up to the surface and called out to Aaron. "What happened? I thought I had it..."

"You lost concentration when you were firing it." The figure stood above me, and reached out to pull me up. "But too bad it couldn't fix that stupid look of yours." I reached up and pulled myself up onto the small island.

I shook myself dry and looked at the person before me. It was Sarah. She had on a uniform like the one the military unit was wearing. "So, what's with the gettup?"

"I'm a member of the Anti-Nightmare squadron. I joined about three days ago." She looked over at Aaron who also had on the male version of the uniform. "He joined as well. We've been stationed for training until the commander can decide on who to fill in for the last two slots in our squad."

I looked myself over, "how 'bout me?" I hold my own you know." They looked at each other then at me. I could tell something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Well..."

"You can't join."

This came as a shock to me. I couldn't believe that she'd be so quick to say something Luke that... "Why not? I went in to save you and took on those Nightmare guys on nothing more than sonar and my pole!"

She stared me down for a moment and turned away, "because they think you're becoming one of them..." Aaron at that time looked at me in fear and placed his hand his sword. "Back in the gate, you got infected by the Nightmare's Virus when you stepped in the black sludge."

I stepped back, rearing to the edge of the island. "So, you're saying I'm one of them? You're saying that just because I stepped in that crap, I'm automatically one of THEM!"

Aaron took a step closer and pulled out his sword slowly, "it's not only that but they think you may be what caused it... Norr..." He turned to Sarah for approval. She nodded and pulled out something from her back pocket. "They want you dead, out of sight, and away from the public. You may be a carrier of the virus... and they can't take the risk of you spreading this disease to innocent people..."

Sarah tossed something in the water, and spun kicked me into it. "You'll understand soon enough, once we get you out of here." My vision was blurred from the water. I could barely see, breathe, and everything was getting dark. I heard a compressed explosion from under the water and an immediate suction pulled me deeper. With what little I could see, Aaron was swimming down toward me, reaching out. But by the time he reached me, I was out cold.


	4. Chapter 4: Escape

Chapter 4: Escape

Name: Norr  
Location:Aniplex City

The sound of rushing water woke me from my well venture sleep. Aaron pulled me to my feet and handed me my pole. He looked apologetic, but couldn't find the right words. "What was that for?"

"We had to make it look believable. It's hard to explain right now but it'll make sense later. Right now we need to get you out of here," Sarah pulled out a small handgun and started across the small docking area hidden under the bridge above us. "Hurry up, they won't take long to figure out what's going on and catch up to us."

"Who? Who's looking for me?"

Aaron walked up beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. He shook his head and walked past me toward Sarah. They nearly walked in unison. I could barely tell them apart. And just like the outside world, I was the different one. I was the one that didn't belong. The one that wasn't important to anyone but myself... I guess here would've been a change for me... but it's turning out be a disaster.

"Hurry up, they're not too far behind us. If they catch up, we're in deep trouble."

Sarah was holding open the door to a small compartment that held a small hole in the floor. I walked in and instantly turned around stopping the door with my foot. "Alright this is far enough, tell me what's going on for real this time!"

Sarah shoved me in the room and jabbed my chest with her finger," pipe down punk, we're almost outta this joint." I looked her in the face and could tell immediately this woman wasn't Sarah. I acted as though I was going to cooperate and stood above the hole. I looked around to see if Aaron was nearby, and he wasn't. The woman peered out the door and mmurmured to herself about something of grave importance. With her being distracted I quickly whipped around and shot out my grapple at the door, yanking it shut and hitting her in the head. She fell on the floor unconscience for the time being. With this, I stepped over her and ran through the docks to the street. I walked for a mile or two, far enough to get away from her and her companion. A sigh a few feet ahead of me read, "Now Leaving Aniplex City, Come Again." Unfortunately, I doubt I'd be doing anything like that anytime soon. I started down the way and found a metro stop just outside an empty gas station a few miles from the city.

The lights were out completely and the rust on the pumps gave off an uninviting aura. I rested for a moment and looked up at the sky. My eyes were heavy and my body was slowly on the way as well. A screeching sound like tires on wet pavement woke me up, and enough time to see a delusional driver headed for me. I hopped up and darted away from the station which blew up as soon as the car smashed through it. The shockwave knocked me down into a shallow ditch and put a few bruises on me as well. I stood up and walked over to see the total damage of the situation. The car was totalled and whoever was in it was as well. I turned away and stopped. I could hear yelling, and turned back to the car. A man burst out of the flames in critical condition rolling to put out the flames. I rushed over to him but he had passed by the time I reached him. In an instant a life was gone before my eyes. I fell to my knees and tried to slide the body away from the fire. Either it be naiveness or idiousy, I tried to contact the local authorities but the lines were on hold for some reason. I looked back at the city. The music from hold kicked in by this time and made the situation seem longer than it was. Someone on the line answered my call," Hello, hello?"

"This is Aniplex City Police Department Jann speaking, what is you're emergence-"

A loud boom erupted from the call and disconnected us, at the same time, I could hear a thunderous roar that shook the ground moments later, causing me to fall down. I looked up at the city once again only to see a screen of smoke and fire fill the sky. A missile streamed overhead and bombed the city, sending another shockwave my way. I was down again, my legs were slowly giving out and I was exhausted from my long walk. With the strength I had left I tried to stand but felt my leg was caught onto something. I turned my head to see what the problem was. The man that I thought was dead was grabbing at me in a furious way. His face and body seemed to merge with the shadows, creating a whole new creature.

I kicked him off and tried to hobble away but was intercepted by a wall of similarly distorted figures. I pulled out my pole and prepared for a fight. I was greatly outnumbered and my condition wasn't helping. I swung a few times to knock them back and gain some distance. This bought me enough time to slide through an opening toward the road. I ran as fast as I could before my legs completely shutdown. The mob turned and surrounded me again. I had enough energy for one last move. I could stand and fight or dive into the ditch that's connected to the nearby river and drift to the unknown. My head was pounding and my muscles were aching. The stress couldn't have been worse. Time was wasting and I had no options left... I jumped into the water below and immediately got jerked by the current. I reached up to grasp for air but all my attempts were in vein for the water pushed and pulled me like a ragdoll.

Reality Switch: (*Reality Switch is merely a quick turn from one person view to another, this will be used often in the duration of the various scenerios to try and get a more in depth look at their world)

Name: Officer Percy Rogers  
Location: Downtown, Anniplex City

I lowered my arm from shielding my face. The blast severed the city in half and majority of the populace were injured or dead. My car was rammed into a fallen piece of debry from the collapsed building before me. My car door flopped open as I staggered out of it to search my surroundings. "Hello, is anyone here? Is anyone here?!" I could feel the pressence of someone in danger nearby. They weren't far from my location, possibly in the house that fell over, blocking the street from further access.

After huddling the scattered furniture and once cherished belongings of the ones who were going to enjoy their time together... if this hadn't have happened... All I could think about was my daughter. She was alone with the babysitter outside the city so she should be fine... or at least that's what I wanted to believe... I pulls out my PDI and tried to contact any nearby officers but the signal was jammed. My car was totalled and my equipment was destroyed. Though without much, I managed to keep my gun and a few rounds of ammo on me. I climbed over mounds of debry searching for what may be a soul in danger but to no avail. My search was then interrupted by a scream a few houses over. Before I could exit the house I toppled over, bullets wizzed past me and yelling could be heard. I raced to their aid only to find a group of survivors escaping to an alleyway from a swarm of vague husks, which turned their attention to me. "Hey, wait I'm with the Anniplex Police Department!" They seemed to ignore what I said and kept running down the alleyway to the main street. I had heard reports of strange husk-like creatures attacking people and then vanishing into the shadows. By the looks of it, they were the Nightmare things I had heard about. They've never attack a city before, so why now? Questions filled my mind but none could be answered. For now, all I can do is secure the police department and round up as many survivors as I can before the unimaginable happens. I readied my gun, took a breathe, and pulled the trigger.


End file.
